curtains remaining open during flights
 

Is anybody else like me? Are you annoyed by the fact that on US airlines the curtains deviding the classes must remain open during the whole flight?
I find that disturbing , especially flying First when one can see everything that is going on upfront. It looses a great deal in intimacy, especially on such a/c as 777s and 767s on long-hauls.

I do too. It is v easy , given that you are in Europe, to avoid though simply by not taking US carriers.

I also dislike the use of plastic cutlery on flights in and out of the UK which is harder to avoid.

Dave



[This message has been edited by Dave Noble (edited 09-12-2003).]

Hmm... I see you are from France.

[dup.]

[This message has been edited by tismfu (edited 09-12-2003).]

... And what does that have to do with anything?

I don't sit in J or F facing the rear cabin(s)...I face forward. Because of this, I don't notice nor could I care less.

I just think that an American (or perhaps a citizen of another country) would be less-worried about the curtain and more concerned about his or her safety... pero c'est la vie...

[This message has been edited by tismfu (edited 09-12-2003).]

" I just think that an American (or perhaps a citizen of another country) would be less-worried about the curtain and more concerned about his or her safety... pero c'est la vie..."

Because no other country has ever had terrorism threats?

If the leaving of curtains open was a great actual security improvement measure rather than a highly visible change of practice, then other airlines would be likely to do the same, I would suggest. I haven't come across this being implemented on other carriers I have used

Dave

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Ben Franklin

Removing a curtain does not make flying any safer.... another brilliant government regulation. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif

If you are trying to sleep, having the curtains shut makes a big difference in keeping out light and noise--even more important if you are in the last row.

Brit777: I would expect that if you are going to close a thread you should honor the opinions of all posters. To state your own opinion and then close the thread shows little respect to fellow members.

Sorry? Brit777? Who? If you mean me, I'd appreciate it if you could elaborate by personal e-mail. I haven't closed this thread, the previous thread similar to this regarding walking between cabins was closed as it really wasn't going anywhere and we had discussed it several times. As we've said before, we don't discuss moderating decisions in the forums, we do it by personal e-mail, so please feel free to contact any of us if you feel so inclined.

To clarify, I'm NOT closing this thread, unless it gets out of hand!

Thanks for everyone's participation.

I agree with Tango regarding agressive moderating lately.

Regarding the curtain, this and all the other "security" improvements like not walking between cabins are a bit much. We have to take the risk of terrorism in proportion to probability- I mean how many people die every year in car accidents (44,000). Yet the government and airlines spend so many billions on security. Dave N. hit it right on when he said if it really were safety then other airlines would do it. The perception of the threat is much greater than the actual risk.

Death tends to come in little tragedies, not big ones like hijacking.

That's about 120 people per day, or a Boeing 737 being lost every single day. Imagine the draconian measures that would be taken if the air travel losses were a jetliner per day. Yet hardly anyone even notices the same number of losses in car accidents.

Back on topic, the curtains have actually been removed from many AA aircraft. The newly-refurbished MD-80's with the hanging cabin divider do not even have place to install one, so I think they're history.

Intmacy?? What're you doin' up there, making love? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Seriously though, perhaps someone with thin skin would be bothered by that but I don't think them being closed is worth the cost of security, personally.

On another thread, transparent curtains were suggested but I don't know how much people would like shower curtains on an airplane, hehe, and uh I couldn't see much benefit beyond noise screening. But, people aren't supposed to be making noise on airplanes anyway. And I think the gallies already have walls so you can't hear much unless you're on one of those bad seats as identified by seatguru.com

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Best regards,
Dairenn Lombard
Los Angeles, CA